This weeks forecast has some cold nights expected in Seattle, with the coldest being Wednesday.  The forecasted 24 hour average temps are just above our biodiesels gel point of 25ºF. However, we know that weather predictions are not always accurate.  With that in mind we recommend that steps be taken as soon as possible to ensure your fuel doesn’t gel.  Dans own car has been running just after spending nights on Snoqualmie Pass with temps in the high teens, so OUR fuel is performing very well when the car is used regularly and kept warm.  Still, and especially if you don’t do a lot of driving in the evenings, it is a good idea to take action to prevent your fuel from gelling.  If possible park indoors at night.  If you can’t park in a garage we recommend using a small mixture of filtered, winterized petroleum diesel.  Well filtered diesel can be found at most high volume retailers like truck stops.   To make a winter blend simply pour in a dose of winterizing additive like Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement Arctic Formula (which we carry here at Dr Dans), then add a few gallons of petroleum diesel into your tank, a blend of about 80/20 Bio/petrodiesel should be fine, be sure to check the capacity of your tank and the level of fuel in it.  Important, the winterizer will only work in conjunction with petroleum diesel (the winterizer will not blend with Biodiesel without petroleum diesel).

If your TDI is 2003 or older it may not like long term exposure to ultra low sulfur diesel unless the injection pump has already been rebuilt with seals compatible with ultra-low sulfur diesel.  Don’t add any more  sulfur fuel than you need to get through the cold snap.  We have seen TDIs not start after about 10 days of using high blends of ultra-low sulfur

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